Check Out These Hot Web Design Trends for 2017

Digital web design has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few years as the world becomes increasingly interconnected and the internet age becomes more entrenched. As we begin 2017, it is important to ponder what it portends for web designers. Here are some web design trends that are likely to continue this year:

Content-oriented layouts

Over the last several years, there has been a dramatic change in how web design is perceived. From web designers coming in at the last moments to add a few attractive elements to a web page, the focus has turned to content. It has become widely recognized that stimulating and intuitive content is what attracts people to websites. The emphasis on minimalist design and efficient, intuitive and rich content is a trend that is expected to continue in 2017.

Increased collaboration

The increasing influence of web design on businesses has seen more and more designers collaborate with fellow designers and developers. This development has largely been spurred by the exponential growth of the internet and mobile apps. Internet behemoths like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google require massive teams of designers working on different elements of the platform. Their huge sizes also make it essential for designers to find better ways of staying on the same wavelength, which basically involves more collaboration and improved communication. A wide range of tools have been developed to help enable this collaboration and 2017 is set to further enhance these platforms or even introduce totally new options.

Enhanced design workflow

Web design and prototyping tools have continued to mature and become more sophisticated. This has resulted in static design files being replaced by dynamic visualizations which include animated single files or even whole websites. The result of creating such dynamic web designs is a shorter feedback loop which has improved the quality of design, enhanced the agility of the development teams and reduced frustrations. This trend is expected to continue in 2017.

More eye-catching type and statements

With content being the widely acknowledged focal point of web design, websites are increasingly featuring statements that are written in big and bold type for maximum effect. At other times the font of a statement is not even bold or big. It is just a one-line statement that aptly captures the essence of the product or service and which is then done in a style that takes up nearly all of the area of the screen. This will likely continue in 2017.

Increased graphic design sophistication

Graphic web design has evolved greatly in the last few years. But improvements in web design layouts have been hampered by the limitations of CSS. In 2017, new tools such as CSS Grid (expected to be launched in March ) and flexbox will enable designers to create more expressive web layouts.

More refined animation

For a long time, animation has been an integral part of web digital interfaces, and things are not expected to be different this year.web designers will continue to use more sophisticated visual tools to create more engaging and funnier animations. Expect these creations to be even more impressive and refined. Animation refinement will especially be important because the process of creating animations will become easier, which translates to more competition.

Virtual Reality

These days, we are beginning to associate the web with alternate reality. Virtual Reality (VR) is going to have a significant influence on web technology in 2017.Even so, it is projected that most browsers may not be ready to support this new trend- but there are builds of Chrome and Firefox that have already gone down this path.

More color usage to enhance design personality

With the popularity of minimalist web designs in 2016, designers began to explore ways of inculcating more personality into their designs. To do this, a few designers turned to using bold and bright colors. This approach was even seen when Instagram, a major internet player, redesigned their app icon. The use of color gradients to blend the rich hues also came back in a big way. Expect to see more of this trend this year.

LightHouse Graphics specializes in several areas of online presence such as graphic design, website design, and social media marketing and content creation…just to name a few. If your business needs assistance in any of these areas, give us a call. We’d love to work with you.